Nike’s RTFKT ceases web3 operations
RTFKT — a digital fashion and web3 studio owned by Nike — announced that it will cease its operations.
The company will cease operations by the end of January, RTFKT announced in a Dec. 2 X post. The company will now be tasked with preserving its previous works by maintaining a website that showcases its previous projects:
“To honor and preserve this pioneering legacy, we will be launching an updated website that showcases the groundbreaking work that defined the RTFKT journey. […] We expect our web3 services will be winding down by the end of January 2025.”
What is Nike’s RTFK?RTFKT also announced that before winding down operations it will launch one last product. In December the company will launch its MNLTH X featuring the BLADE DROP. This last project is described as a continuation of the company’s efforts to merge physical and digital products through innovation.
— RTFKT (@RTFKT) December 2, 2024
RTFK was previously tasked with managing Nike’s virtual sneaker and fashion initiatives amid the metaverse craze. The footwear giant acquired the company back in 2021 and leveraged it to release non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of Takashi Murakami-designed avatars and virtual versions of Nike Dunks among other things.
The decision also follows Nike’s naming of Elliott Hill as its new CEO two months ago. The RTFK acquisition was a move by his predecessor John Donahoe and aimed to position the company in the then-booming metaverse industry. The acquisition was also accompanied by the launch of Nike’s .SWOOSH web3 platform. Ron Faris, GM of Nike Virtual Studios said at the time:
“We are shaping a marketplace of the future with an accessible platform for the web3-curious. […] In this new space, the .SWOOSH community and Nike can create, share, and benefit together.”
Since 2022, the metaverse craze then slowly but surely died down, and the company decided to downsize its spending in the web3 space.
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